&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Manhattan College will celebrate the groundbreaking of the Raymond W. Kelly &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rsquo;63 Student Commons on Thursday, Dec. 13 at 12:30 p.m. on campus. The 70,000-square-foot building, set to open in 2014, will significantly enhance the College&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rsquo;s ability to integrate academics and student life programming, and will provide space for fitness and wellness programming, dining, study, and cultural and community events.

Manhattan College will celebrate the groundbreaking of the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons on Thursday, Dec. 13 at 12:30 p.m. on campus. The 70,000-square-foot building, set to open in 2014, will significantly enhance the College’s ability to integrate academics and student life programming, and will provide space for fitness and wellness programming, dining, study, and cultural and community events.

“This is an honor beyond measure, which I accept on behalf of the 50,000 uniformed and civilian members of the New York City Police Department. That the student center will serve as the new ‘front door’ of the campus fits perfectly the Lasallian tradition of opening portals in service to the community,” Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said.

An approximately $48 million project, the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons will be the College’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building.

“The Kelly Commons will be at the heart of the campus, both geographically and figuratively,” said Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., president of Manhattan College. “It will house our student clubs, student government offices and bookstore, and will be our front-door to the community, providing space for gatherings, meetings and events open to the public.”

Earlier this year, Thomas D. O’Malley ’63, former chairman of the College’s board of trustees and executive chairman of PBF Energy Company LLC, contributed $10 million toward the building of the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons, which was the largest gift in Manhattan’s history. Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ronald O. Perelman, chairman and chief executive officer of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., and Kelly are also among the list of supporters of the new building.

The new Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons site is located on Manhattan College Parkway in the existing Waldo Parking Lot. For more information about the building’s features, visit manhattan.edu/StudentCommons.